Massa: The title is the goal

Felipe Massa has reiterated his desire to fight for the title this season as he looks to put the past behind him

Entering his 11th season in Formula One, his eighth as a Ferrari driver, Massa has yet to win a Drivers’ Championship title.

He has, however, fought for the crown most notably in 2008 when he lost to Lewis Hamilton by just one point.

This season Massa is hoping to recapture some of that form as the 31-year-old aims to mount a title challenge.

“The maximum is the victory, winning the Championship,” he said during a Ferrari web chat when asked about his ‘maximum’ goal.

“Everyone starts the season with zero points and you need to have the best start possible and win as many races as possible to win the Championship.”

However, in order to do that Massa first needs to beat his team-mate Fernando Alonso, who has had the measure of the Brazilian throughout their three years together at Ferrari.

Asked about that, Massa said: “Obviously when you are not in front of your team-mate or whoever is racing with you, you are not 100 percent happy.

“You are only 100 percent happy when you are in front, winning the race, winning the championship or whatever.

“When you are in front that is what makes you one of the happiest guys in the world but having a strong team-mate makes you better because you learn a lot more.

“I think when you are in a top team you are going to have a strong team-mate. this is what has happened in all these years racing for Ferrari so I had Michael Schumacher, I had Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso who are definitely great drivers.”